‘When you read this card I will have departed from this earth’: Emotional final note from loyal listener ‘John from Weymouth’ to his favourite local radio breakfast show moves DJs to tears
- John Martin moved DJs at BBC Radio Solent to tears after they opened his note
- He had instructed solicitors executing his will to post in the event of his death
- 83-year-old had been an avid listener to radio station’s Dorset breakfast show
- DJ Steve Harris says: ‘I felt like I’d lost a friend. The team were moved to tears’
John Martin, 83, moved DJs at BBC Radio Solent to tears after they opened his note
A loyal radio listener has sent a heartfelt message of thanks to his favourite BBC station from beyond the grave.
John Martin moved DJs at BBC Radio Solent to tears after they opened his ‘if you’re reading this…’ note, which he instructed solicitors executing his will to post in the event of his death.
The 83-year-old had been an avid listener to the radio station’s Dorset breakfast show and was known to them simply as ‘John from Weymouth’.
Mr Martin called the show every day to join in with their on-air quizzes, and DJ Steve Harris thought something was wrong when they hadn’t heard from him for a couple of weeks.
The host was at first ‘relieved’ when he received an envelope with the pensioner’s handwriting on, but was shocked when he opened it and read the message in a card.
It read: ‘To all the team. When you read this card I will have departed from this earth.
The note in the card said: ‘When you read this card I will have departed from this earth’
‘Just a message to thank all of you all for you programmes, full of local interest, news, travel, weather, brain teasers plus music. Thanks for everything, John.’
They later found out that Mr Martin had been ill for a while. Mr Harris said: ‘John was a regular fixture of our listenership. He was really dedicated to the show.
‘I got the impression that he listened all the time, and clearly came to think of us as friends.
‘He would call in every morning to take part in our little on air quizzes – even when he didn’t know the answers. That was the first indication that something wasn’t right.
BBC Radio Solent’s Dorset breakfast show team including Steve Harris (left) were left in tears by the note
‘We didn’t hear from him for a while. I was relieved at first when we received his card. I recognised his handwriting. But then when I opened the card and read it my heart sank. I felt like I’d lost a friend. The team were moved to tears.’
Mr Harris tweeted an image of the card and it has since been liked and retweeted more than 2,000 times.
Mr Harris added: ‘The fact an old man felt strongly enough to want to contact a group of people who were the voices at the other end of his radio after his death, makes us feel rather special.’
Radio Solent newsreader Charlotte Foot tweeted a photo of the card and said: ‘I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t shed more than a few tears at this.
Mr Martin called the show every day to join in with their on-air quizzes, and sent in this card
‘Every Christmas, every Easter – John would always remember. Even my wedding day. You’ve touched our lives John as much as it seems we touched yours. Thank you for being there.’
Listener Shaun McKinlay tweeted: ‘That proves how radio is vital to a certain generation.’
In 2015 widower Bill Palmer became an internet hit after he called the same radio station to tell them how lonely he was since his wife Sheila died.
DJ Alex Dyke arranged for a taxi to pick the 95-year-old up and bring him to the studio for a cup of tea.